There are many obstacles that stand in your way of being able to empower those in your circle of influence. Sometimes that task seems so huge that it even seems fruitless to start. The social group-think machine of limitation is so pervasive and it has spread its tentacles into every corner of people’s minds.
Regardless of your individual role in life you are in the business of getting along with others and shifting others perspective to another viewpoint. Whether you are a baby, kid, teen, parent, boss, worker, salesperson, manager – you name it, you are in the business of influencing others.
It’s a big job and yet it can be done and won. In terms of a strategy for success I am reminded of the question on how do you eat an elephant? The answer, of course is “one bite at a time”. One little piece after the other is the way you address the paradigm shift required in moving a person from the mindset of “my life is pre-determined because of ……” to the in8model viewpoint of “you live in an infinite sea of possibilities and you can be, do and have whatever you decide”.
The average person has, for a long time now, been living in a land of impossibility thinking. Just ask your friends, “what stops you from being ……..(insert a possibility for your friend)?”. The majority of the time you will get something like “I’m not that sort of person/that’s not me/I cant do that”.
The objection that you get is usually a big, no HUGE issue that the person feels like they have no control over.
These big limiting ideas that we all entertain to one degree or another can be changed, but not through you changing them by telling or teaching. The change must be elegant, subtle and gradual. If a person changes their worldview all at once it creates an implosion and they are sure to resist it. Change must be gradual.
The in8model® approach is neurologically based and subscribes to an above/down/inside/out approach. We do this by removing impediments, blocks or interferences to the full potential within a person’s worldview which we know is dwelling beneath the impossibility filter.
To shift people’s thinking and societies’ behavior patterns is one HUGE elephant.
For the most part people have been taught that symptoms and discomfort are undesirable, bad and usually something to be feared, in fact for many; life itself is a scary proposition.
Take the time this week to take a little ‘bite’ at this big elephant and get people to look at their life in a different way. A little bite in this context needs to be around letting people understand their pains are their ‘gift’ and that they have a special message for the world that is much bigger than them.
Symptoms are not something to be eradicated; they are phenomena to be learned from.
Seek to create doubt, disbelief or questions in the people’s mind around their “sacred cows”. This challenges their beliefs and causes them to gently go into a state known as perturbation (or confusion).
Be gentle with people and don’t use negatives or fear to make a point. Remember, sacred cows like self-responsibility make the best hamburgers but they must be cooked slowly.
Enjoy eating your elephant.
